3/11/2008

I travel around Taiwan quite a bit for work. I took this picture today in the Tainan High Speed Rail Station. The baseball thermometer is appropriate as all three of Taiwan's Major Leaguers come from this southern city. As usual, I was surprised by the range of temperatures on Taiwan. When I left Taipei, it was cool and a bit wet. In Tainan, it was some 10 degrees Celsius warmer. By the way, the high speed rail got me there in one hour and 43 minutes, thanks to speeds closing in on 300 kilometers per hour.A strange series of white blocks that warp around the Tainan High Speed Rail Station; they only serve cut off the view of the countryside and reflect the intense sunshine back into the faces of commuters. I wonder how much this added to the construction bill, and what purpose they could serve.A mouth-watering beer ad on the Taiwan High Speed Rail. They don't actually have beer vending machines on-board. They don't even sell beer for that matter. They just like to torture us. The campaign, needless to say, was effective. Upon disembarking, I headed to the nearest 7-11 for a crisp cold one.A "famous" Chinese-style teahouse in the beautiful eastern port city of Hualien (花蓮), Taiwan. Coffee is not on the menu.I asked several people working across the street at the Seednet HQ about this cool building, but not a single person could tell me what it was. The phantom building is reflecting Seednet in its soothing blue glass.The street line painters had obviously been hitting the sauce since early morning.